


Walk On By

by red_starshine



Category: Constantine (TV), Hellblazer & Related Fandoms
Genre: Bad Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-04-01 15:16:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4024753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_starshine/pseuds/red_starshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3 AM is not the time to realize you’re in love with your best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walk On By

**Author's Note:**

> For anon’s prompt of ‘John realizes he has feelings for Chas and starts to flirt with him a lot because he doesn't know how else he can let him know about them but Chas thinks he doesn't really mean it because he always flirts with people’. Thanks so much for the great prompt, anon! :D

 

Maybe it was the drinks or the late hour, but John was struck by a sudden epiphany as he stretched out on his bed, where Chas had left him after helping him up the stairs an hour ago.

3 AM is not the time to realize you’re in love with your best friend.

John covered his face with his hands and moaned. “Shit.”

***

Unsurprisingly, he woke up the next morning with a pounding headache.

Chas had left a glass of water and two aspirin on the table next to his bed, and John couldn’t have loved him more.

As he swallowed the two tablets, John stared down into the empty glass. Part of him was at a loss of what to do – how exactly do you let someone you’re already close to know that you love them in a romantic way? There was a difference between loving a friend and being in love with them.

Fuck it. He’d just try the way he did with everyone else.

***

John was acting a little strange. Strange even for him.

Thirteen years of being John’s wingman at after-gig parties and dank hole-in-the-wall bars had given Chas a front-row seat to John’s rather unique method of seduction. It was amazing the kind of lines you could get away with if you had a ‘charming’ or ‘cute’ British accent, even if it was a working-class one like John’s. The girls and a good chunk of the boys flocked to him as soon as he opened his mouth. If Chas had tried some of the things he’d heard John say at bars, he’d probably get a drink splashed in his face. Either that or get punched.

Which was why it seemed a little off when he realized that John had been using those same techniques on him the last few days. The obvious flirting, the banter, the brief touches. The light pat on the ass, which was what had finally tilted the scale from ‘normal John behavior’ to ‘unusual John behavior’

Chas chalked it up to John just being himself and tried to put it out of his head. John wasn’t great with other people’s boundaries, and honestly he was like that to almost everyone he met.

It wasn’t because John was interested in him – they’d known each other for thirteen years, and John definitely wasn’t that patient, or the kind to sit around pining after someone for over a decade.

But it was a notion that Chas kind of liked to think about, even if it was nothing more than an idle fantasy on his part.

***

John wanted to scream out of frustration.

It was impossible for one man to be so friggin’ oblivious to what was practically being waved in front of his face like a flag. John was doing everything he could think of short of crawling naked onto Chas’s lap with ‘FUCK ME YOU IDIOT’ written on his forehead and Chas was just ignoring him. Not even saying he wasn’t interested or that he didn’t swing in that direction or that they were better off being friends. There was just no reaction. None. At all.

“Bloody obtuse git,” John seethed. Asking Renee exactly how she’d managed to ensnare Chas was starting to look like a great idea, although as the man indirectly responsible for the failure of her marriage, calling her up for tips on how to attract her ex-husband probably wouldn’t go over very well.

“Well, drastic times and all that rubbish,” muttered John to himself.

He stood up from his bed, stretching out his arms before unzipping his pants and sliding them down his legs. A second later his boxers landed on top of them.

***

John also seemed to be practicing a lot more spells that required full nudity around the millhouse, and didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry to put his pants back on after he was finished. John stomped up the stairs to his room without a word when Chas suggested he get dressed.

***

When Chas went up to his room that night, John was waiting for him there, sitting on a corner of the bed.

“We need to talk, mate.”

Chas blinked owlishly at him. “Uh. We do?”

“Yes, we bloody well do,” said John, standing up. “I’ve been flirting like mad at you for days, and you keep just brushing it aside, and it’s driving me fuckin’ looney. So tell me now if I can quit it and just pretend this week never happened: do I have any kind of shot with you here or am I wasting my time?”

Chas stared at him while his brain ground to a sudden halt. So John really had been flirting with him. “Oh,” was all he could say.

John looked down at the floor for a moment. “Right, as I figured. I’ll just leave you alone then. Do me a favor and don’t ever bring this up again?” Still not meeting Chas’s eyes, he made for the door.

Comng back to his senses, Chas grabbed John’s arm before he could leave. “John, wait, hold on a second. You just surprised me, that’s all.”

“Surprised you?” John repeated slowly, a crease appearing between his eyebrows.

“Well, yeah. John, you kind of flirt with everybody. I thought, I dunno, you were bored and wanted to tease me or something. I didn’t think you were serious.”

That was precisely the wrong thing to say. John looked mildly hurt at that, which, knowing John, probably meant that inside he was devastated.

Chas winced. “I’m sorry, I’m messing this up.” He paused for a moment, placing his other hand on John’s arm.

Clearly words were failing him. Time for something else.

He pulled John closer to him, although now John was looking up at him warily, like he still wanted to bolt out of the room. “Maybe this’ll make it more clear," said Chas.

He leaned down and kissed John, letting his arms snake down and encircle John’s torso.

John almost went limp in his arms, letting out a quiet, relieved moan before digging his fingers into Chas’s back as he forcefully kissed him back.

“You silly bastard,” said John when they drew apart. “Damn near gave me a heart attack with all that crap.”

“Sorry,” Chas said sheepishly.

 


End file.
